He pointed to rising ocean temperatures as the reason why this rare phenomenon was occurring more frequently.

"Oceans are warming and the species that respond to that change will be those that are the most mobile," said Pauly, per KTLA. "So the big question now is this: Are sea snakes swimming off the coast of Southern California the new normal?"

Karen Martin, a professor of biology at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, said that it was not unexpected to find the sea snakes washing ashore.